LSU Football: One of Ed Orgeron’s offseason decisions has already paid off in a big way

LSU Football head coach Ed Orgeron made several big staff changes during the offseason that are expected to help the Tigers take a step forward in 2021.

One of those changes has already paid off in a big way.

Earlier this summer, LSU parted ways with offensive line coach James Cregg. Orgeron quickly worked to replace Cregg with Arkansas offensive line coach Brad Davis.

Davis, who played college football at Oklahoma, is a Baton Rouge native.

Ed Orgeron’s decision to hire Brad Davis has paid off in a big way

It’ll be a while before we know whether or not Orgeron’s decision to hire Davis will pay off on the field.

However, we already know that Coach O’s decision to hire Davis is paying off in recruiting.

On Friday, the Tigers landed a big commitment from 2022 four-star offensive lineman Emery Jones.

Jones, 6-foot-4/341 lbs from Baton Rouge, is ranked in 247Sports’ composite rankings as the No. 9 interior offensive lineman in the country and the No. 13 player in Louisiana.

A lot of folks probably assume that LSU landed Jones by default because he’s from Baton Rouge.

But that’s not necessarily the case.

Arkansas was actually a major factor in Jones’ recruitment. In fact, before Davis left Arkansas for LSU, the thinking was that the Razorbacks were the team to beat for Jones.

When LSU hired Davis, it put the Tigers in the driver’s seat for the talented offensive lineman.

“We have a close bond and the fact that he wound up in Baton Rouge, we built off that bond and built it up stronger and stronger,” said Jones of Davis to Rivals after committing. “We built a love for each other.”

“When he was moving here from Arkansas, he told me I’m still one of his top guys and he wanted me really bad…..I know I’m very important to him and he’s very important to me,” added Jones

If Orgeron doesn’t hire Davis, there’s a very real possibility that Jones would be an Arkansas commit right now. And while losing one player in a recruiting class isn’t the end of the world, there’s no doubt that Jones, a massive offensive lineman who should be a key contributor for the Tigers, was a must-get in-state player for LSU.

And thanks to Davis, the Tigers got him.